Erich Raeder By Emily Hennenfent Erich Raeder was Commander of the German Navy from 1928- 1943 during the Second World War. He was tried at the Nuremburg trials and found guilty of war crimes. He received life in prison as a punishment. Raeder was in jail for nine years from 1946 to 1955. He died in 1960 at the age of 84. An interesting fact about this man was that he wanted to be shot instead of hanged. Before the trial he thought he would be sentenced to death so he was going to request being killed with a gun. He didn’t want to go to jail “at his age,” which was only 69. The reason he was in the Nuremburg Trials was because he ordered submarines to attack neutral ships with no warning. This was considered a war crime. He also attacked Russian submarines six days prior to the invasion after he had openly opposed an attack. Q. What is your name and why were you tried in these trials? A. My name is Erich Raeder. I was Commander of the German Navy from 1928 to 1943. Q. What were you convicted of? A. I was found guilty of participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of crime against peace, planning, initiating, and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace, and war crimes. Q. Do you feel you committed the crimes you were convicted of? A. I know that when I authorized the attacking of Russian submarines without any warning I was breaking laws of war. However, I feel that other countries were doing the same thing and they weren’t punished. Q. Speaking of punishment, do you feel you received the proper punishment? A. No, I do not. I would much rather have been killed. Hanged or, preferably, shot. Q. So you do not feel you should have been sent to prison? A. I think at my age it is a waste. I am old, 69 years of age. Going to prison is a waste of time for me. Q. Do you think you are right in following Adolf Hitler? A. He was the dictator of Germany so I was obligated to follow him and serve my country. Q. Do you feel you served your country the best you could? A. I do. I would not change a thing if I went back. Q. So do you believe that Hitler was a good leader? A. I do. His military leadership was phenomenal. Q. Do you believe your role in the war helped or hurt your cause? A. I think it definitely helped our cause. Even though I was opposed to an invasion of Russia at first, I think the attacking of their submarines was a good plan. If we hadn’t attacked them, they would have attacked us. Q. How do you feel about people who are saying that you were involved in the “general plan and conspiracy”? A. I am indifferent to this. There was strong evidence to prove that I was involved so I will not deny it. Q. What was the “general plan and conspiracy”? A. It was a plan we made. We were going to wage aggressive war in violation of international law and existing treaties. Q. What do you think were your most serious charges? A. My most serious charges were definitely the U-boat activities. Q. Who was the closest to you in this trial? A. Karl Donitz’s case was the most similar to mine. That is probably due to our positions. We held the same office. He replaced me as the German Navy Commander in 1943. He also replaced Hitler after his death on April 30, 1945. Donitz served under me before I retired. He then replaced me as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. Q. What prison will you be sent to do you know? A. I will go to Spandau Prison.
By Emily Hennenfent
Erich Raeder was Commander of the German Navy from 1928- 1943 during the Second World War. He was tried at the Nuremburg trials and found guilty of war crimes. He received life in prison as a punishment. Raeder was in jail for nine years from 1946 to 1955. He died in 1960 at the age of 84.
An interesting fact about this man was that he wanted to be shot instead of hanged. Before the trial he thought he would be sentenced to death so he was going to request being killed with a gun. He didn’t want to go to jail “at his age,” which was only 69.
The reason he was in the Nuremburg Trials was because he ordered submarines to attack neutral ships with no warning. This was considered a war crime. He also attacked Russian submarines six days prior to the invasion after he had openly opposed an attack.
Q. What is your name and why were you tried in these trials?
A. My name is Erich Raeder. I was Commander of the German Navy from 1928 to 1943.
Q. What were you convicted of?
A. I was found guilty of participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of crime against peace, planning, initiating, and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace, and war crimes.
Q. Do you feel you committed the crimes you were convicted of?
A. I know that when I authorized the attacking of Russian submarines without any warning I was breaking laws of war. However, I feel that other countries were doing the same thing and they weren’t punished.
Q. Speaking of punishment, do you feel you received the proper punishment?
A. No, I do not. I would much rather have been killed. Hanged or, preferably, shot.
Q. So you do not feel you should have been sent to prison?
A. I think at my age it is a waste. I am old, 69 years of age. Going to prison is a waste of time for me.
Q. Do you think you are right in following Adolf Hitler?
A. He was the dictator of Germany so I was obligated to follow him and serve my country.
Q. Do you feel you served your country the best you could?
A. I do. I would not change a thing if I went back.
Q. So do you believe that Hitler was a good leader?
A. I do. His military leadership was phenomenal.
Q. Do you believe your role in the war helped or hurt your cause?
A. I think it definitely helped our cause. Even though I was opposed to an invasion of Russia at first, I think the attacking of their submarines was a good plan. If we hadn’t attacked them, they would have attacked us.
Q. How do you feel about people who are saying that you were involved in the “general plan and conspiracy”?
A. I am indifferent to this. There was strong evidence to prove that I was involved so I will not deny it.
Q. What was the “general plan and conspiracy”?
A. It was a plan we made. We were going to wage aggressive war in violation of international law and existing treaties.
Q. What do you think were your most serious charges?
A. My most serious charges were definitely the U-boat activities.
Q. Who was the closest to you in this trial?
A. Karl Donitz’s case was the most similar to mine. That is probably due to our positions. We held the same office. He replaced me as the German Navy Commander in 1943. He also replaced Hitler after his death on April 30, 1945. Donitz served under me before I retired. He then replaced me as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.
Q. What prison will you be sent to do you know?
A. I will go to Spandau Prison.